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I’ve made stuffed bell peppers a thousand times before, but stuffed poblano peppers with chicken and cheese? You guys, I don’t know why I waited so long. In addition to taco salad and barbacoa on everything, this has become one of my favorite healthy Mexican meals. With chicken, cheese, plenty of Mexican flavors, and quick prep time, I happen to think this is the best stuffed poblano peppers recipe out there. If you haven’t branched out beyond regular bell peppers, now is the time.
What Are Stuffed Poblano Peppers?
Poblano peppers are a mild type of Mexican chile pepper. They are dark green, sweet, just slightly spicy, and about the size of green bell peppers (or sometimes larger). Stuffed poblano pepper recipes are cooked much like regular stuffed bell peppers and can have many different types of fillings, but Mexican flavors work best with this type of pepper.
Why You’ll Love This Stuffed Poblano Peppers Recipe
- Filling tastes both creamy and spicy
- Loads of Mexican flavor
- Tender roasted poblano peppers
- Easy to make with simple ingredients
- Ready in 25 minutes
- Naturally low carb and gluten-free
- Easy healthy dinner for busy weeknights
Ingredients & Substitutions
This section explains how to choose the best ingredients for stuffed poblano peppers, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Poblano Peppers – You’ll need three large peppers. Some poblano pepper recipes suggest that you peel the skin (after roasting, much like roasted red peppers), but it’s extra work (as it would require roasting before filling) and I don’t find it necessary at all.
- Butter – For sauteing the garlic. I don’t normally use butter for sauteing, but since it’s just over medium heat, I opted for (unsalted) butter this time for flavor. Feel free to use olive oil or avocado oil instead.
- Garlic – Mince it fresh for the best flavor, or get jarred garlic for convenience. If you love aromatics, you can saute some onion along with the garlic.
- Chicken – You can make your own shredded chicken in the Instant Pot quickly, or shred rotisserie chicken from the store for a shortcut. Chopped baked chicken breast also works in a pinch, but shredded absorbs the liquids and flavors better. You can also make the same cheese stuffed poblano peppers recipe with ground beef, ground turkey, or ground pork instead of chicken.
- Diced Tomatoes – Get the canned kind like this. Don’t drain it, as you’ll need the liquid. Tomato sauce can also work, but the texture of the filling will be different.
- Taco Seasoning – For all the Mexican flavor! I make my own taco seasoning mix using spices I have at home, but store bought is also fine to use. If yours is unsalted, add one teaspoon of salt.
- Cream Cheese – Makes the filling creamy and cuts some of the heat. Dice it into small pieces to help it melt easily into the filling.
- Cheddar Cheese – For a melted cheese topping. I used shredded cheddar, but you can also use a Mexican cheese blend, Monterey Jack, or even sliced cheese if that’s what you have on hand.
- Fresh Cilantro – Optional, for garnish.
VARIATION: Make it more hearty!
This is a low carb dish as-is. If that’s not for you, you can serve it with rice on the side, or replace half of the chicken with canned black beans, corn, or cooked rice.
How To Make Stuffed Poblano Peppers
This section shows how to make poblano stuffed peppers, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique. For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
- Prep the peppers. Slice the peppers in half and remove seeds. Place them onto a lined sheet pan.
- Make stuffing. In a large skillet, melt the butter and saute the garlic. Add the shredded chicken, diced tomatoes, and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer. The mixture will be liquid at first, but reduces to a thick filling after simmering.
- Stir in cream cheese. This mellows out the filling and makes it creamy!
- Fill. Stuff the filling into the poblano peppers and place, open side up, on baking sheet. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.
- Bake. Roast the chicken stuffed poblano peppers in the oven, until peppers are soft and cheese is melted. Garnish with cilantro.
Storage Instructions
- Store: Keep leftovers in the fridge for 3-5 days.
- Meal prep: You can prep the peppers (cut and remove the seeds), make the filling, and assemble the filling ahead. Store them in a covered baking dish in the fridge for up to 1-3 days. Then, simply bake as directed.
- Freeze: Stuffed poblano pepper recipes freeze very well, and you can do so before or after baking. Place them into a casserole dish and cover tightly with foil and/or plastic wrap. Alternatively, you can wrap each individual pepper with plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Either method will last for about 2 months in the freezer.
- Reheat: You can reheat the cooked peppers in the microwave, or in the oven at 350 degrees F. If frozen, you can thaw Mexican stuffed poblano peppers in the fridge overnight for faster re-heating, or bake from frozen — it will just take longer.
What To Serve With Stuffed Poblano Peppers
These chicken and cheese stuffed poblano peppers make a flavorful meal all on their own, but if you want to add a little something, here are a few ideas:
- Rice – White rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice (or cilantro lime cauliflower rice) make the most logical side dish.
- Veggies & Salads – Try roasted asparagus, tomato cucumber avocado salad, patty pan squash, or three bean salad.
- Toppings – Add guacamole, sour cream, fresh cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Salsa also makes a great addition (either regular tomato salsa or avocado salsa verde).
More Stuffed Pepper Recipes
If you love stuffed peppers, here are more varieties to try:
Recommended Tools
- Hard-Anodized Skillet – I love hard-anodized coatings like this one, because it’s nonstick but still so durable.
- Nonstick Baking Sheet – My favorite baking sheets! I like to line it just to be safe, but it’s also nonstick and cleans up really nicely.
Stuffed Poblano Peppers Recipe
Stuffed Poblano Peppers Recipe
Stuffed poblano peppers use simple ingredients and take just 25 minutes! This cheesy chicken stuffed poblano peppers recipe is full of Mexican flavors.
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Ingredients
Tap underlined ingredients to see where to get them. Please turn Safari reader mode OFF to view ingredients.
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).
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Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds. Place them onto a lined baking sheet. Set aside.
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In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and saute for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
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Add the shredded chicken, diced tomatoes (with liquid), and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the extra liquid is absorbed into the chicken.
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Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cream cheese, pressing with the back of a spoon or spatula to help it mix in, until melted and smooth.
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Stuff the filling into the poblano peppers and place, open side up, back onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of each pepper half, about 2 tablespoons (28 grams) each.
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Bake for 15-20 minutes, until peppers are soft and cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh cilantro if desired.
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Readers Who Liked This Easy Recipe Also Made:
Recipe Notes
Serving size: 1 stuffed pepper
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
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47 Comments
Christie Boersma
0This was very tasty and super easy. I made the chicken in the instant pot ahead of time and loved this! And just cooking the peppers a tad longer was much simpler than blistering and peeling them. Thanks Maya!
Kim
0After reading the comments, I put stuffed peppers minus the cheese on a baking dish, covered with foil and cooked 30 min at 400 degrees. Took off the foil, sprinkled with cheese and cooked another 12 minutes. Peppers were tender, but not mushy.
Elizabeth Larson
0This recipe is amazing and easy, if you kind of like (or even do not like) stuffed sweet peppers, you will LOVE this wonderful dish. I made a few changes because I love spicy and use what was on hand. I tripled the fresh garlic cloves, added 1 fresh jalapeño (diced with seeds),1 can Rotel 10.5 oz (in place of diced tomatoes 14.5 oz), Monterey jack (not cheddar), fajita seasoning (in place of taco seasoning). for topping after cooked, fresh avocado, cilantro, and sour cream. As another reviewer commented, the poblano’s are on the more firm side but I liked the fresh crisp of it (not mushy). Thank you for sharing this, we are on a Keto diet, and will make this a weekly meal. The best part of the delicious recipe, was I did NOT miss carbs. Thank you for sharing =)
Lori Burton
0This was pretty tasty and easy to make. I do think the peppers should have been blanched and peeled first. They were rather tough to cut into.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Lori, I’m glad you liked the taste! The peppers should be baked until they are soft; it sounds like they needed to bake for longer if they were tough to cut into.
Lori Burton
0Poblano chiles are a mild green chile typically used to prepare chiles rellenos, rajas con queso, and crema de poblano. They need to be roasted and peeled before cooking to remove the tough outer skin which is difficult to digest. Roasting also adds flavor.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Lori, Feel free to cook your peppers that way if you prefer.
Maria
0My family loves this recipe. Served with tortillas chips, salsa, and sour cream. I didn’t have poblano peppers and I don’t like bell pepper so I got some long wide sweet peppers. I have no idea what they are called but very good meal. Had leftovers today.
Suzanna Chamblee
0Can you please tell me how to prepare the shredded chicken, before adding it to the peppers?
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Susanna, This is the quickest method for making shredded chicken. Enjoy!
Rossie Dees
0For speed and convenience, you can just buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from your deli and shred that!
Amy
0This was sooo good. I sprinkled some of the extra taco seasoning on top. Everyone raved about it.
Missy
0Is the serving size one whole pepper or one half pepper?
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Missy, the serving size is for one half pepper.
Sue
0In the instructions, it does say the Serving size is 1 pepper, not one half. Serving size: 1 stuffed pepper (direct copy/paste). Otherwise, looks good… I am a stuffed pepper fan.
Wholesome Yum D
0Hi Sue, As stated in the instructions you are only stuffing half of the pepper so that would be the serving size.
Lindsay
0This was a great recipe! Easy, filling and good flavor. I didn’t have cheddar cheese so I used Monterey Jack. Plus I put them in the air fryer vs. oven. At 400 for 12 mins. Super crispy edges! I added sour cream, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno and some crushed plantain chips on top (minimal carbs!)
Tiffin Barthelmas
0This was so good and flavorful. Will definitely make this again!
Mary
0Made this for half time of superbowl for hubby and I. Really good. Made a few changes. Used Anaheim and pablono peppers. Added onion to the chicken and wrapped with thin slices bacon. Cooked on traeger with smoke. We loved them. It such a good recipe to expand from. Used costco rotisserie chicken. Thanks would love to show pic.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Mary, That sounds delicious! We would love to see photos over on the Facebook page!
April
0Made these and they did NOT disappoint! My picky daughter even ate them. I made 12 peppers all together and brought some for lunch the next day for my co-workers and they were a hit. I texted everyone the link to this recipe. Definitely a must try. Thank you so much for putting these together. Love all the recipes!
Melissa
0Ok,this was great!!! Will be making this again!!! The chicken filling is a nice change from most pepper recipes that call for ground beef or red meat. Full of flavor-made my own taco seasoning -wow!! Thank-you for posting this recipe-will definitely be my sling this on a regular basis.
Rebecca
0Just attempting this recipe and have loved others that you’ve posted, but I have to say the user experience for mobile on this website is fairly awful. I appreciate you making money off of ads and know it’s important but I can imagine a lot of people are just leaving your site due to the number of pop ups preventing me from even writing this comment easily. Source: I work in digital marketing.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Rebecca, Thank you for your feedback. I now have a plus membership that offers a version of the website without ads. If you are interested in reading more about it, you can here: Wholesome Yum Plus.
Dee
0Delicious! Thank you for such a great keto recipe. I couldn’t find poblano peppers, so I used Anaheim and they were fine. So good!
Suzybeth
0I made this tonight for me and my daughter. I added a few extra spices, I knew it wouldn’t have the heat we enjoy. It was delicious! Served with a side of homemade guacamole and we couldn’t have been happier. Thanks for sharing. I will be making this again and again.
Nicole
0I liked the recipe alright, but WARNING these poblano peppers ARE spicy. My fingers are numb and burning after preparing them. As far as eating them goes they have a nice flavor but the peppers are really spicy, I could barely handle them. The filling is not spicy at all, but the peppers themselves are hot. They aren’t as spicy as let’s say a jalapeño, but to say these are “not spicy” is not accurate at all. There should be a disclaimer about handling the seeds, I thought these were “not spicy” so I didn’t even worry. I would definitely wear gloves next time or make them with bell peppers and make the filling more spicy instead. These were very easy and quick to prepare, just too hot for me and my poor fingers.
Wholesome Yum M
0Hi Nicole, I am sorry you had that issue! Poblano peppers are usually very mild and provide more flavor than heat to recipes.
Baltisraul
0I have been eating/making poblano peppers for over 20 years and never found one that was anything close to spicy. I think you got a mis-maked package.
Randi
0These stuffed poblanos are TO DIE FOR! I’m having trouble believing I can eat food like this on Keto but my hubby & I are losing weight & we feel great so it must be working! These were perfect, even our teens loved them, we will make again for sure. Only thing I’ll do differently is roast the peppers a little before we stuff them. Excellent recipe, thanks for sharing!!
Catherine
0These were so easy to make! Thanks for the recipe!
I changed a few things because I used what I had on hand. Substituted venison for the chicken, used Farmer’s cheese instead of cream cheese and used monterey jack cheese instead of cheddar cheese. Didn’t try to figure out how much this changed the macros.
Thought about roasting the peppers a little before filling them but didn’t. Will do that next time.
Terri Griffith
0These were excellent!!! I did several batches for a family birthday dinner. The peppers were pretty hard. I didn’t think to soften them a little and this was not quite enough time in the oven to do the trick. I will make these again! I topped with a little bacon.
Angee
0I would roast the peppers first and use a Mexican blend of cheese instead of just cheddar. I would also season the chicken with taco seasoning. Looking forward to making this!
Angee
0This was the best stuffed poblanos I ever made! Made the stuffing exactly like you said, but I roasted the poblano halves before stuffing. The stuffing was so creamy and flavorful. Easy recipe but outstanding results. Thank you so much for sharing!
Tracey Gerard
0This looks so very delicious!
Bob
0Very good and quick and easy to make. I poached the chicken in broth and let it cool before shredding. My only suggestion is to blanch the peppers as they were a little under cooked. Will make again and also as toco filling.
April Leger
0I made these for the first time this weekend and they were delicious. My husband, who is diabetic, loved them. They weren’t too spicy – the taco seasoning gave them just the right amount of heat. The recipe was so quick and simple, I will definitely be making these again.
Kathy Campbell
0The recipe was easy to follow and was a big hit. My peppers turned out great.
Jackie Grossman
0I just made these last night and they are DELICIOUS! !!! Easy to make and they will be a dish I make often! My husband thought they were delicious too!
Bronwyn
0This recipe is really good! I only had 2 peppers, so saved half the sauce for enchiladas using egg crepes. Thanks for a great new years day dish!
Andrea Metlika
0Whoa! These are fantastic. Really like that they are made with chicken.
Emily Liao
0These stuffed poblanos are amazing and great for prepping for a family meal. Can’t wait to continue making these.
Kelly Anthony
0I love anything with poblano peppers because they bring the perfect amount of heat to any dish.
Patty
0These stuffed poblano peppers are sooooo good and satisfying. And love that they’re keto! Thumbs up!!!
Claudia Lamascolo
0Wow those look spectacular and I can’t wait to make them the peppers stuffed are my favorite meal!
Chrysa
0I love that these are so cheesy and poblano peppers give so much flavor. This will be a staple in the new year.
Adriana
0Poblano peppers are my favorite and more when are stuffed, your version sounds yummy. Need to try the chicken stuffing mix.